{"id":21712,"date":"2020-05-09T11:05:09","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T15:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=21712"},"modified":"2020-05-31T18:24:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T22:24:37","slug":"packet-stream-monitoring-trash-franchises-wetlands-credits-force-main-quit-claims-paving-and-accountability-court-lcc-2020-04-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2020\/05\/packet-stream-monitoring-trash-franchises-wetlands-credits-force-main-quit-claims-paving-and-accountability-court-lcc-2020-04-28.html","title":{"rendered":"Packet: Stream monitoring, trash franchises, wetlands credits, force main, quit claims, paving, and Accountability Court @ LCC 2020-04-28"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nApparently there was no legal public notice and no recording of the\r\nApril teleconference meeting<\/a> with the dial-in code changed less than three hours before, with $6,913,575.06 in taxpayers’ money being decided.\r\n

\r\n\"[Photo:<\/a>\r\n
Photo: Pine Grove Road Collection Center<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFor that Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission,\r\n\r\nat which everything was approved unanimously except the one split vote on\r\nthe single-source no-bid stream monitoring contract<\/a>,\r\nLAKE sent an open records request for “the teleconference audio recording and the log of teleconference attendees (who dialed in, by name, or, if name is not known, by telephone number) for the April 28, 2020, Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.”\r\n

\r\nThe response from the County Clerk was:\r\n

\r\n

\r\nThe April 28th telephone meeting was not recorded other than the\r\nminutes that were taken. Further, the program used does not record a\r\nphone log for the option utilized for this meeting. This being case,\r\nthere are no records responsive to your request. I do expect the\r\nnext meeting to be held in the Commission Chambers with social\r\ndistancing requirements observed. This being the case, citizens will\r\nhave an opportunity to attend in person which is a much better\r\nformat for everyone.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nWell, that’s a matter of opinion.\r\nDo you think it’s better to have to wear a mask to the Commission Chambers and risk getting infected, than to listen on the phone?\r\n

\r\nThe Valdosta City Council had their meeting this Thursday on facebook live.\r\nThe Madison, Florida, BOCC has been doing theirs on gotomeeting.\r\nIt’s curious how the most populous county in the region can’t manage a teleconference or video meeting.\r\n

\r\nLAKE received the full board packet two days after the meeting, at 5:07 PM on Thursday, April 30, 2020, in response to an open records request.\r\nIt’s \r\non the LAKE website<\/a>.\r\nWe look forward to Lowndes County putting its full packet on its website along with\r\nthe agenda<\/a> and one-page agenda sheets per item<\/a>.\r\nMany other counties in Georgia and Florida have been doing this for years.\r\n

\r\nWhen will the Lowndes County Commission catch up with the 21st century?\r\n

April-28-2020-Commission-Meeting-Packet<\/a><\/H4>\r\n

\r\nBy far the biggest item was the\r\n$6,545,729.00\r\nColeman Road Force Main Replacement<\/a>.\r\nThe county apparently saved a bunch of money by removing many amounts from the bid for the county to do directly.\r\n

\r\n\"[Amount<\/a>\r\n
Amount Removed from Bid<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nCurious how they didn’t do that for the sole-source no-bid\r\n$45,120.00\r\nProfessional Services for Sampling, Monitoring and Reporting of Impaired Streams<\/a>.\r\nMore on that in another blog post.\r\n

\r\nThe county bid everything else that could be bid, including the\r\n$228,400.95\r\n\r\n\r\nLMIG Resurfacing Contract<\/a>.\r\nHere are the\r\n\r\nRoads to be resurfaced under 2020 LMIG Grant<\/a>:\r\n